Aaron Rodgers Super Bowl: Revisiting how 'The Bad Man' beat the odds to bag his only Lombardi Trophy
Having been in the NFL for 20 years, you'd be forgiven for assuming Aaron Rodgers has at least a few Super Bowl rings. However, despite being one of the most successful players ever, marked by four MVP awards, fate has been harsh on the veteran when it comes to league titles.
In two decades' worth of postseason appearances, Rodgers, whom Stephen A. Smith famously dubbed "The Bad Man," has only gotten to the summit of NFL greatness once.
The campfire tale dates back 15 years to the 2010 season when Mike McCarthy's Green Bay Packers stared down the barrel of missing the playoffs. Heading into Week 16, they needed to turn the ship around after losing their previous two games and being stuck at 8-6.
Green Bay was destined to break even at .500 and likely miss the postseason. The Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers all beat the brakes off the Packers earlier in the season, none of whom even made the playoffs that year.
Cheesehead fans were left with a bleak outlook heading into the home stretch of the campaign, as their team still had to face the 9-5 New York Giants and 10-4 Chicago Bears.
Aaron Rodgers lays down the law to end the regular season
Famous for his performances in high-stakes games, Aaron Rodgers put up a masterclass to end the 2010 regular season. First hosting the Giants in late December, the fifth-year quarterback ran the visitors out of Lambeau Field, 45-17.
He rode that momentum into the season finale against the red-hot Bears, also at Lambeau. However, the visiting NFC North leaders weren't hot enough, as Chicago shot-caller Jay Cutler iced up in icy Green Bay, and "The Bad Man" picked the Bears apart to send them packing 10-3.
The red carpet was rolled out for Aaron Rodgers and the Packers to have a crack at postseason greatness.
Aaron Rodgers and the Packers find their groove playing in familiar conditions in January
Playing a lot of their playoff games in cold, familiar weather, Mike McCarthy's men put up solid showings in January. With four games away from home on its road to the Lombardi Trophy, Green Bay took its opponents to task, one by one.
On a run not many expected, Aaron Rodgers threw a mere two picks the entire postseason as he toppled the Philadelphia Eagles 21-16, beat up the Falcons 48-21 and edged the Bears again, 21-14.
The piping-hot Packers struck gold in the arm of Rodgers on their road to Arlington to face Mike Tomlin's Pittsburgh Steelers. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and "The Steel Curtain" were favorites heading into the showdown at AT&T Stadium. They marched through the regular season and hung a 12-4 record on the door to the postseason.
A festival of Steel offense featuring running back Rashard Mendenhall and wide receivers Mike Wallace and Hines Ward saw them trot into Super Bowl XLV on a high note.
However, "The Bad Man" pulled up with ice in his veins on Feb. 6, 2011, to rival the dominance of the Pittsburgh powerhouse.
Shooting out of the gates guns ablaze, "A-Rod" got a foothold on Mike Tomlin's men with a 21-10 halftime lead. Among the 21 points, he hit Jordy Nelson and Greg Jennings for touchdowns to tame the Steelers, who struggled to keep up.
While "Big Ben" mustered a worthy attempt in the second half, driving Pittsburgh into striking distance, Rodgers never let his foot off the pedal, sealing a 31-25 victory to claim his only Super Bowl ring to date.